Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is expected to debut its 3G iPhone later today, and this time around, the handset may be considerably cheaper than its first version. The Financial Times citing “people familiar with the matter” said that Apple has “bowed to pressure” from networks to allow them to subsidize handsets to boost sales, basically admitting that their previous selling strategy was not cutting it. The hope, of course, is that the subsidy will help boost sales and enable Apple to hit its goal of 10 million iPhones sold by the end of the year. So far, its sold 1.7 million of them. Analysts are speculating that AT&T (NYSE: T) may offer a subsidy of $200 on the phone, meaning that it could be priced at $299 when it hits the market. The FT is also reporting that Apple has relented a bit on its revenue share deal and will actually give up an unspecified portion of the cut—which analysts had estimated to be as high as 30 percent of user revenues.

SEE ALSO: Can Apple Hit 10 Million Target With 3G iPhone?

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the Sunday Telegraph—which did not cite a source—says that O2 may give the phone away for free to its highest spending contract customers. It’s also expected to offer the first pay-as-you go deals. The newspaper is also reporting—in direct contrast to the FT—that Apple will actually take a bigger bite of customer usage revenues in return for allowing operators to subsidize the phones.

It’s difficult to know if they’ve struck different deals with different operators around the world, or if this is a mix up. On the one hand, European operators reportedly weren’t too pleased when Apple was pressuring them to cut prices on older versions—at the network’s expense—to make way for the new model, so it would make sense that Apple would actually forgo some of the revenues in return for operator subsidies. On the other hand, both O2 Germany and O2 UK have found that iPhone users consume much more data than regular users, so at some point the subsidy would pay off. Moreover, in Europe, the iPhone hasn’t been a mega-hit, which many analysts had put down to its lack of 3G capability. Perhaps operators and Apple are expecting European sales of the new version to be much more robust, which would allow Apple to take a bigger cut of user revenues.